Mad About Food: Baking can be a learning experience

Sweetened condensed milk bread for Michelle Madden’s Mad About Food column in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024. (Savannah Blake/The Gazette) — Sweetened Condensed Milk Bread. (Savannah Blake/The Gazette)

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Happy holidays! I will warn all of you who have been following me since I started this column in 2018 that this is not my usual whimsical story-type article. This is more informative because I’ve never baked this type of bread before and the recipe I was given was from someone’s personal collection, so unfortunately, it was not very precise in its measurements or techniques. That could be because they’ve been making this bread for half a century, which is longer than I’ve been alive.

OK, now that I got that out of the way, let’s get into what I experienced as I blindly went through the process of making Sweetened Condensed Milk Bread. Let’s just say it was a learning process.

First, the recipe said to mix the yeast with regular cow’s milk — I didn’t know it had to be room temperature. The other thing I had an issue with was the correct amount of flour. I found out that using bread flour will NOT give you the croissant-like texture that was promised in the recipe I used.

The end result of my first attempt was dense, but very flavorful to be honest. Let’s just say it was not a consistency that would be pleasing to all. I was not happy with it, so of course, I had to find a different recipe from one of my favorite cooking sites, which is allrecipes.com. It looked and tasted amazing — as it should for a dessert bread.

So here are some tips I found when making this bread that most definitely made a grand difference in the end product.

Whole milk and unsalted butter all need to be at room temperature before incorporating it into the mixture.
Instant rise yeast (SAF Gold Instant Yeast) should always be your top pick. Unfortunately, I went for regular yeast. Hence the heaviness.
In order to have the most fluffy texture for this condensed milk bread recipe, the kneading and shaping processes are the most important steps.

Recipe

Sweetened Condensed Milk Bread

For bread dough

3 1/2 cups cake flour (see notes for all-purpose flour substitution)

1 tablespoon instant yeast

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup whole milk at room temperature

1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk

1 medium egg

2 ounces unsalted butter, softened, at room temperature, cut into pieces

For the egg wash

1 medium egg

1 tablespoon whole milk

For the condensed milk glaze

3 tablespoons sweetened condensed milk

1 tablespoon unsalted butter softened, at room temperature·

Instructions

Mixing and kneading by mixer: Combine all dry ingredients (flour, yeast, salt) in a mixing bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook.

On slow speed, add wet ingredients (milk, condensed milk, egg) to dry ingredients and mix until cohesive dough starts to form — approximately 30 seconds to 1 minute. Use a rubber spatula to scrape any flour that sticks on the bowl's sides if necessary.

Increase the speed to medium, then add softened butter one piece at a time. Make sure each piece is fully incorporated before adding the next. Then continue to mix the dough until it is smooth, elastic, and pulls entirely from the sides of the bowl.

Extra kneading by hands: Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface (about 1 tablespoon is enough). Start kneading the dough by hand to form a rough ball by gently picking the edge of the dough that’s farthest away from you toward the middle. Then gently press the dough down and away from you with the heel of your hand.

Turn the dough 90 degrees and repeat the picking and pressing process to fold the dough. Repeat these steps a few times until the dough forms a smooth, round ball, about 1 to 2 minutes. You can lightly sprinkle the dough with flour as needed along the way if the dough becomes a little bit sticky.

First proof: Put the smooth, round ball of dough (seam side down) in a lightly greased large mixing bowl. Cover tightly and let the dough double in size, approximately 1 1/2 to 2 hours. This proofing time is standard for most bread/dinner rolls recipes.

Shaping: Punch the dough to deflate, then transfer it to a lightly floured surface.

Firmly press the dough into a square or rectangle with your hands and with the help of a rolling pin. Make sure the dough's length fits within the size of your chosen baking pan.

Start by picking the edge that is closed to you and carefully rolling the dough away from you to a cylinder. Remember to tuck the sides as you go. Then pinch the seam close tightly at the end.

Use a serrated knife or your sharpest knife to cut the cylinder into pieces with equal thickness.

Second proof: Arrange the dough neatly, and seam side down in a lightly greased baking pan. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let the dough rise almost double in size again, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

Baking: Pre heat oven to 350 degrees.

Lightly brush the top of the already-proofed dough with an egg wash mixture.

Bake for 35 to 40 minutes. Remember to turn the baking pan halfway through the process.

When the bread is done, lightly brush it with condensed milk glaze when the bread is just freshly out of the oven.

Finally, let the bread cool down to room temperature completely before serving.

Notes:

If you need to use all-purpose flour instead of cake flour, use 2 tablespoons less all-purpose flour per cup of cake flour, and add 2 tablespoons of cornstarch per cup.

This milk bread or any other enriched bread/dinner rolls can be wrapped in plastic wrap and store in a cool, dry place at room temperature for up to 3 days.

Leftover, unused milk bread is a perfect fit for this bread pudding. Use this amazing raisin bread pudding if you want to transform it once again into a wonderful dessert.

Source: Adapted from allrecipes.com

The procedure for making this bread is the same as making a dinner roll recipe or any other bread type recipe: